The Wake of the Avatar
by Andurei the One-Eyed
Summary: Ten years since the death of Aang the Final Avatar, the Fire Nation has turned upon itself in civil war between the south, led by Zuko, and the secretive north. A new war is on the horizon, as well as Zuko's marriage to Katara. [Zutara]
1. The Tea House

**CH1: The Tea House**

Katara sat before the massive monument with her eyes closed. A mild wind blew through the garden of the shrine, slightly broken apart by the many rows of statues that covered the ground. The sky was growing dark as fat, forbidding clouds of rain moved across the horizon and blocked the sun. She opened her eyes to gaze upon the statue of Aang that stood at the bottom of the massive spire. It was just the right size; the same height that he had been ten years ago, when he led the offensive on the Fire Lord.

She turned her gaze back to the ground and quietly whispered to herself as she began to cry. She had been here, near the Shrine of the Final Avatar, since its construction, and had visited it often. Today was the beginning of the tenth year since the day Fire Lord Ozai was vanquished. Ten years. The sound of those words echoed in her ears as her tears soaked the patch of ground before her, as they had done many times in the past.

The breeze blew through the garden again, and Katara wiped her eyes. She looked back at the statue, and followed the spire behind it up to its tip with her eyes. The very top was another statue of Aang; the fearsome image of the young boy as he was infused with the power of the Avatar state. Every detail of the statue was perfect; down to the eyes; they were worked out carefully by master artisans from the world over, as had the rest of the statues. The Avatar was gone. The echoes of his death had been felt around the world.

She rose to her feet softly and walked to the statue. Aang's frozen, smiling face stared out at her from its permanent fixture upon the spire. She bent down slowly and kissed the cold stone form on the cheek before turning and swiftly making her way away from the spire. Tears were welling up in her eyes again. She closed her eyes for a moment, and collided with Zuko.

"Wha-" Zuko had been admiring the statue of an ancient nameless Avatar. One born long ago from within the Fire Nation. He stepped back a half-step and looked down at Katara before embracing her. She buried her head in his chest and her tears dampened his shirt. He closed his eyes and stood silently as she cried. He ran his fingers over her hair as they stood in the silence of the shrine.

"I still miss him so much..." She spoke quietly as she wrapped her arms around him and shifted her head to the side so that it could rest on his chest.

"I regret not knowing him better." Zuko spoke in a hushed tone as he glanced over toward the spire. This was the way she preferred it; a sort of standard script for these moments. He didn't mind too much. The caretakers of the shrine were wrapping the countless Avatars in oilcloth shrouds to guard against the coming storm.

"... It's so strange, though. It feels like just yesterday that we were all together, traveling the world on Appa's back..." She looked up to Zuko's face, and smirked a little bit before continuing, "... and fighting with you, of course."

"Of course." Zuko smiled in return. He always loved it when Katara smiled, it made him feel like he was making a difference in her mood. The first clouds began moving in and drizzling over the grounds of the shrine, darkening the stone pathways and leaving a wet sheen over the benches.

"I'm glad you came with me." She gazed into his eyes for a few moments, still smiling. Zuko leaned forward a bit, and their lips connected in a kiss. As they kissed, the soft footsteps of one of the caretakers approached. The caretaker cleared his throat, causing the pair to pause and look in his direction.

"I'm sorry, Fire Lord Zuko, but could you and Lady Katara please do that elsewhere, outside of the shrine's grounds?" The caretaker stood strong; he didn't appear to enjoy throwing them out of the shrine, but this was the second time they had done this. They should have known better by now.

"... Certainly." Zuko turned to Katara, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes... we can always return some other time." She took Zuko's hand in hers before leading the way out of the shrine. They passed rows upon rows of former avatars, each of which seemed to have its eyes fixed on them as they walked. Zuko felt a chill down his spine, but said nothing. This was the usual feeling he always seemed to have when walking through the shrine. But why not? Aang had once been with Katara, but not much could be done about that, since he passed on from this world.

They walked under the arch that denoted the exit from the shrine grounds. The rain slowly picked up speed, but this meant nothing, as Katara slowly worked with the falling water to keep it from drenching them. They walked in silence, accompanied by the sound of the rainfall through the capitol of the Southern Fire Nation.

The Southern Fire Nation was currently ruled by Zuko and a council of several other powerful benders appointed by the invasion forces and the indigenous residents of the area. Things had gone rather smoothly in recent years as this area had slowly consolidated itself into a proper power. Nothing had come from the Northern Fire Nation; the remnant from Ozai's rule, in five years. The North had turned into a hermit nation. Nothing left, and nothing dared enter.

The rain intensified and soaked the ground as the two passed shops and homes on the way to the palace. As they walked, other people greeted them on their route through the city. Cheery people, happy to be alive after the invasion, happy that they no longer had to fuel the war machine of a mighty nation. About halfway between the shrine and the palace, Katara pulled Zuko under the awning of a small tea house and kissed him on the cheek before stepping inside.

Zuko followed her in, obviously a bit uneasy as he stepped inside and looked around. Wooden chairs and tables were around for the customers. A young man was working inside, and the man Zuko assumed to be his father was in the back, making the tea. The scene felt oddly familiar and unnerving, but he didn't dwell on it for long. Katara sat at a table in a corner in the moments he had paused. After shaking the thoughts from his head, Zuko walked over to the table and had a seat, smiling weakly as he did so.

"You always liked the tea from smaller places; I figured we would stop here on the way back." Katara smiled, but Zuko remained uneasy. The other places he had tea from were normally manned solely by younger men, or entrepreneurs. He had seen the young man and his father here, and avoided it deliberately.

"Yes, but..." He paused as the young man came up to take their orders for the tea. Before the young man could ask, the young Fire Lord looked over him quickly before answering his question before it was asked; "I would like jasmine tea, please."

"Oh... yes, sir." The young man was startled by this, and turned to Katara, barely stammering out, "A... and what would you like?"

"The same, please." Katara nodded to the young man, who turned and walked quickly to the back, "Did you have to scare him like that?"

"Sorry, this place just feels... odd. Something is off here." He bowed his head a bit and looked down at the cracks in the table. He didn't know what to make of it, entirely, but the feeling was there. Something was missing.

"Is it because of your uncle?" She spoke quietly, reaching out and placing a hand on his. This seemed to settle her lover a bit, but he was still visibly disturbed.

"I think so... I haven't seen him since he escaped back in Ba Sing Se. He looked so... disappointed. The boy here and his father remind me of my uncle's tea house... back when we were still spending time together." He said his words quietly, and Katara leaned in closely so that she could better hear him. He looked toward the back of the shop for a few moments afterward, before his attention returned to the grooves in the wooden table before him.

"Oh... didn't you tell him your plan? About getting close to Azula?" She squeezed his hand a little, but he simply closed his eyes.

"I couldn't; if he knew, it wouldn't have worked as well. He would have stayed too close... I just wish I could see him again. Ten years... that's a long time to go without seeing the only surviving member of your family." He looked back up and into Katara's eyes for a moment before turningh is hand over to hold hers. His expression had changed from a slightly cheerful one to a more somber, saddened one.

"... He's still alive? And you haven't told him anything yet?" She couldn't keep this question quiet; her voice was slowly raising to normal, and by the end it was at the same volume as normal conversation.

"I... don't know if he's still alive; anything could have happened after he escaped his bout with me and my sister. I haven't heard anything about him or from him, and I have just now acquired the resources to try to locate him." He sighed after he spoke, licking his lips for a moment, "I hope he's still alive."

"He should be; he wasn't _that _old, and took good care of himself... I mean, Gran Gran is still alive, as is King Bumi. Your uncle should still be fine. He likely opened up a tea shop in some tiny Earth Nation town." It was her turn to cheer him up, and she knew the right words to say. It wasn't often that she had to brighten his mood; the young firebender had everything he'd ever wanted now, and was quite content with his position in the world. Only when matters turned to the fate of his uncle did anything seem to affect him negatively.

However, this didn't reassure him. He put on a small smile and nodded, but he let the conversation die at that point. He wanted to believe, but that meant that his uncle was deliberately avoiding him; something that he didn't want to admit. Both ways of looking at it felt wrong. If Uncle Iroh had died, then he had reason to be sad at the mention of his death. If he was still alive, then it was troubling for an entirely different reason.

"Your tea is getting cold." Katara stroked his wrist lightly, bringing him out of his contemplation on the subject. He sat up quickly, startled.

"How long was I like that?" Zuko glanced around the room; a few people had come in from the rain, and the tea shop was picking up in business. He hadn't noticed the tea's arrival, nor anything that had happened since the end of the discussion.

"Only a moment. It... didn't seem right to disturb you." She picked up her tea and sipped it to keep herself from saying anything that would be a bother. He had been out for much longer, in truth; closer to ten minutes, rather than the mere moment. Zuko didn't notice her lie; or if he did, he made nothing of it. He picked up his tea and held it gingerly in his hands. He looked at his obscured reflection in the dark liquid, calmly scanning the outline of his features for a hint at what made him different now. How had he changed?

Introspection aside, he flashed a weak smile at Katara, as if to persuade her that he was fine now, and out of his lost focus. She obviously didn't believe him, but that was an issue for another time; not in a public place, in front of the subjects over which he was supposed to rule. Katara returned the smile as he took his first sip of the tea. It had grown a bit cool, much below its proper serving temperature. Zuko paused for a moment and gazed over his cup at the people around the room, two of whom had been watching him for the past few minutes very intently. He gulped his tea down and set it on the table, turning his gaze back to the lovely young woman accompanying him.

"Can we go now?" He pushed his tea cup toward the center of the table and scooted away from it a touch.

"Of course." Katara finished her tea and did the same, before standing up and stepping out into the aisle in the middle of the shop. Zuko stood and took her hand, before escorting her out of the store. They stepped back out into the rainy street that had become covered in mud that flowed over the cobblestones. He kissed her on the cheek as they stepped out into the rain.

The rain intensified as they continued on their path to the palace. A young soldier, a member of the Southern Fire Nation army, jogged up to them as they neared the palace gates. Zuko took note of this and stopped before the eager young man could splash in the mud and cake his clothes further.

"Fire Lord Zuko, sir, our spies in the north have reported that they're beginning to gather their forces for an invasion. The others of the Council of Lords are already together in the war room, and they await your arrival, sir." The young soldier saluted during his quick rant, and fell into a coughing fit once he finished. The weather did not agree with him, and it showed.

"I see. Tell them I will be there momentarily." The young couple strode past the gates to the palace, toward an ornate outer garden. The young soldier watched them as they walked away with a confused look adorning his face, before he turned to walk back through the gates.

**A/N: Figured I'd try my hand at a little fanfiction, as I'm currently a burnout when it comes to everything else. If there are any comments, criticism, or flames, bring it on. I'll try to answer as much of it as I can. I reckon I'll be keeping up with this, as I enjoyed writing this chapter. Don't keep any expectations, though.**


	2. The Soldiers and the Garden

**CH2: The Soldiers and the Garden**

The young soldier who delivered the news to the young Fire Lord Zuko and his girlfriend ventured forth into the war room. Within this room was a massive table covered with maps and charts that showed the world as a whole, and the pieces of it individually. The map that was featured most prominently was a recent rendering of the Fire Nation's home continent.

Small earthen tokens depicted the armies both sides would likely use in the coming war. Most of the Northern troops were not known, and were labeled as such. Intelligence was sparse, and many spies had lost their lives in the process of infiltrating the enemy. Conversely, every scrap of information available pertaining to the native Southern units were noted on extensive reams of paper and distributed to each chair.

There were eleven seats around this table, each with enough room around them for more chairs to be added as needed. Each seat had a listed name for it; at the head of the table was the Fire Lord. This was Zuko's seat. Across from him were the two seats for the Earth Councilors, capable nobles sent from the Earth Nations to counterbalance the Fire Lord's assumed impulsiveness and instability. On each side of the Fire Lord sat Water Nation councilors to tame the power of the head seat. The remaining six seats, three on each side, were occupied by senators of the administrative districts within the Southern Fire Nation.

All of the seats in this room were occupied, save for two. The seat of the Fire Lord, and the seat of the Water Councilor that sat at his right hand were empty. Dian Wu, the Earth Councilor on the head's left side, shifted in his chair to look to the entering young soldier, who had come without Zuko and Katara in tow.

"Did you deliver the summons?" Dian Wu spoke anxiously, fidgeting as he turned his attention back to the table. His fear was visible; he didn't like the thought of the Fire Lord being in cahoots with those of the North. Fire Lord Zuko was a powerful bender; likely strong enough to defeat every man sitting at the table. The fact that the lead firebender had been very calm and even-minded since he assumed power didn't lend to a sense of security. The Fire Lord was likely scheming at this very moment.

"Yes, sir. Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara will be here shortly. They are taking a detour through the palace gardens, sir." The young soldier looked over Dian Wu with contempt; no threats had truly been seen. Unfortunately the once-proud men of the Earth Nation fell with their great cities of Omashu and Ba Sing Se. Since these defeats, there were few who could summon enough courage to stand to humans as well as they stood against stones.

"Why are they not coming here directly?" Dian Wu scowled at the young soldier. Such a boy should not have been sent for so grave a task as informing the head of the nation of a war on the horizon. He did not appreciate the gravity of the situation. Another war was on the horizon. If Ba Sing Se didn't stand up to the assault of fire nation agents, how could such a tiny city like this stand against the full military might of the North?

"I do not know, sir. The Fire Lord must not have deemed it worthy of the urgency that has been placed on the issue at hand, sir." His job was not to be an escort, the young soldier felt. He also believed the earthbender's inquisition was not fully warranted; he had delivered the message, as said. If he was to fetch the missing council members and hold their hands as they all walked to the palace, he should have been told so, instead of being given incomplete orders.

"Fine. Leave us then; we must get to business. Fire Lord or not, we need to find a proper response for this problem." Dian Wu gestured out of the room with his hand, and the young man bowed graciously before heading out of the door.

The young guard stepped inside of the guardroom moments later and took off his helmet. The summer heat was causing him to sweat much more than he liked, and his entire body was sticky. A few other soldiers were hanging around in the guardroom and fanning themselves. Most were out of their armor down to their waist, and the sweat poured off of their bodies.

"Oy, Yozan. What did the Council want?" Another man fanning himself by the window called out as the messenger tossed his helmet onto the table before him.

"Nothing serious, Bizo. Wanted me to tell the Fire Lord about some invasion the North is planning, and to drag him back. I didn't do the dragging, so they started whining about it." Yozan took off his armored tunic and set it down next to his chair before he sat and picked up a fan.

"I take it you had to deal with Dian Wu?" Bizo yawned out the last syllable as he leaned back in the comfortable chair he was relaxing in. The guardroom was quite nicely furnished; if you didn't know that it was a guardroom already, you couldn't tell simply by looking at it. In reality, it was a simple sitting room that had been taken as a room for the guardsmen.

"I hate that guy." Another of the guards, who was laying on a couch on his stomach piped up as he rolled over onto his back to look up at the ceiling.

"Does anyone like him?" Yozan picked up a jug of water and began drinking from it as some of the other guards simply laughed in response.

"Even the man's mother couldn't love him. He whines too much. I wish the Fire Lord could just up and throw him out. He's going to be trouble." Bizo fanned himself before opening the window nearby and sticking his hands out into the cool rain. He squinted, and could see the Fire Lord himself out past the building's fence, walking around the garden with Katara.

"Yeah. Especially since a war is coming up; the Fire Lord will probably have his hands too full with silly bureaucracy to lead the troops at all, like he did in the North's last sad attempt at an attack." The man on the couch spoke quietly after Bizo finished, finally bothering to open his eyes and look around the room, "I fought with him when he was out there; he was within arm's reach. He's a great fighter. World-class. Even on the front lines, he came out with little more than some cuts."

"Really? I never had him pegged as a 'lead from the front' guy." Yozan turned his attention to the man on the couch, who was sitting up now.

"Muro, you're full of it. I was with you the whole time during the war with the north; you didn't come within an arrow's flight of Lord Zuko." A guardsman who was sitting at the table laughed a little, and the others looked to Muro, who turned his attention away from the group and back to the ceiling.

"... Um, what about that waterbender? What's up with her and Lord Zuko?" Muro said as he looked back to the group with a grin, as if he had not just been caught in a lie. He didn't like getting caught, but he normally didn't lie.

"I don't know, but I don't blame him. She's got a nice body." Another guardsman, who was in nothing but his undergarments spoke up from a corner.

"I think it's wrong," the man at the table spoke up, "He could have any woman in the whole of our country. Why does he have to go with some little girl from the south pole? It's not right."

"You're just pissed because she didn't look your way, Zao." Muro laughed as he flopped back onto the couch again, smirking, "You know you'd be on her if she gave you the time of day."

"I don't know; I think she's trouble, too, Muro. She _is_ one of the people the Water Nation sent to make sure that he doesn't rule as he should. She's probably just doing her job and keeping our Fire Lord sedate and controlled." Bizo dangled his arm out of the window and looked back over to where Zuko and Katara were now. They were both moving to sit down on the bench near the koi pond, while looking down at the fish.

"Do... do you guys think we should do something about it, then?" Yozan stretched as he tilted his head to look out of the window at the close couple as they sat down to talk.

It was still raining outside; pouring now. The plants in the garden were covered with water and holding tiny reservoirs within upturned, cup-like leaves. The koi pond, where the two were now headed to, was swelling and opaque as the rain droplets filled it past its capacity. The water slowly rose and lapped at the bench and the feet of the two lovers as they sat down facing the palace instead of the pond.

"There isn't a way to get you to reconsider, is there?" Katara looked up to him as she sat down on the bench. A bit of water had touched her face, but she ignored the cool droplets as she waited for Zuko's response.

"I have to do it; the army is depending on me. My people are depending on me, and I don't enjoy the thought of letting them down by hiding in a safe place while they are killed." He reached over to her face and, mistaking the tiny drop of water for a tear, wiped it off with his thumb.

"I just don't want to lose you... I don't want you to die in the middle of a war... like Aang did..." She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes. Zuko sat silent as the rain began pelting them from above. He looked up at the sky for a few moments, before smiling.

"You could alw-"

"I'm not going to fight alongside you. You're... different when you're leading people. It's unnerving." She leaned up against him, her eyes still closed. He slipped his other arm around her and rested his head against hers.

"Okay. I promise I'll come back." Zuko smirked a bit as he glanced at her out of his scarred left eye. He sat silent for a moment, his smile sitting on his face, in an attempt to get her to change the subject.

Katara sat motionless, without saying a word. Tears mingled with the rain on her face as the thought of losing Zuko flowed through her mind. She had already lost Aang; the thought of losing another of her loves was almost too much to bear. Zuko slowly took his attention away from her, his attempt had failed. He turned his attention to the golden koi swimming about in the rippling pond.

"Katara... I'm going to be fine, I promise, I'll be careful. I've already survived two wars and a handful of assassination attempts; I can handle this. Please... don't cry." He squeezed her body with his left arm and turned to face her again, bringing his right arm around her. She turned her face upwards, into the rain, and kissed him before resting her head on his shoulder.

"May I have at least one request of you, then?" She spoke firmly, it was obvious that she would have it. He wouldn't be able to turn down this request; it was a demand masquerading as a question.

"Of course. Anything." Zuko smiled outwardly, but his mind was teeming with questions. Curiosity was getting the better of him, and it made him nervous.

"Would you please invite Sokka and my father over, before you go to war?" She smiled up at him, and he nodded after a few seconds of processing the request mentally.

"Of course... wait a minute." He narrowed his eyes at her, frowning, "You already knew, didn't you?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help but read over them..." Her eyes flashed up to his and she smiled.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. How did you find them?" Zuko smiled back; he knew where he left the replies, and he knew exactly when she had seen them. He wanted her to wait, though; not spoil it like this. But, if it made her happy, who was he to argue?

"That day you had to run off to some ceremony and asked me to take something to your room. You _are_ aware that there are drawers built into the writing desks for a reason, right?" She sat up straight and wrapped her arms around him, smiling broadly.

"I see. This means that the only remaining question is... would you accept me as your husband?" Zuko grinned after he asked, and watched her eyes. His stomach was quaking; even though he had an idea of her answer, he didn't know if this was the appropriate time. Katara sat silently, gazing into his eyes as she contemplated his question. Thirty seconds, then a minute passed in complete silence as she simply watched him become more nervous as time went on. Toward the end of the minute, which felt like an eternity, he started shaking slightly, his body quaking as the wait took its toll on him.

"Of course I will, Zuko." She started smiling as she spoke, but the last syllable was cut off as the young man kissed her and pulled her to him. The rain was still pelting them both, and they were soaked through and through, but they neither noticed nor cared. The kiss continued for as long as the wait Zuko had endured in search of his answer.

After the kiss, they held each other for a short time before a cool breeze blew and reminded them of their current soaked state. The young couple rose together and stood on the muddied path back to the palace. They walked onto the grounds, holding hands, and approached the small palace. The palace was more of a mansion than a true home fit for a king, but it reflected the opulence and status of the city it sat in well. They strode up to the doorway and past the posted guards. They stopped under the awning and wiped their shoes clean before continuing into the large home.

"What did Sokka say when you told him you were going to ask me to marry you, anyway?" Katara plodded toward her room for a change of clothes, and Zuko followed, as their rooms were both on the same side of the home.

"I believe it was something along the lines of 'Stay right where you are, so I can kick your ass.' I suppose he meant for me to sit still." He grinned as he stopped at his door, and began opening it as he kept an eye on his new fiancée.

"Better look out; he's going to make you drink from the koi pond again." She chuckled as she opened the door to her room and started walking inside.

"I hope not; it took days to get the taste of fish-water out of my mouth." He smiled again at her as he slipped into his room and closed the door behind himself.

**A/N: And thus, it continues. I'm still liking where it's going, so I'm going to keep on keepin' on as long as I can ride this wave of creative juices. Keep commenting; it helps me know what I have to address; as an example, I was asked about the relationship status of Katara and Zuko, and it was addressed here. Not everything will be answered immediately though, of course.**


	3. The War Room

**CH3: The War Room**

Fire Lord Zuko and Councilor Katara entered the war chamber at the same time. The room fell silent as they entered, and the gazes of the other ten members of the council were upon them. None of the councilors at their seats rose to their feet. The room stayed silent as the couple, now in dry clothes, made their way to their seats at the far end of the table.

As they walked, Zuko surveyed the layouts that covered the table. Reams of annotated sheets of paper covered the room, and he took note of each of those as well. A war was indeed coming, and nothing could be done to stop it. He pulled out Katara's seat for her to sit before taking his own seat. He watched the silent, unmoving faces of each of the members of the council as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"The North is preparing to invade, I know this. What do we have on-hand here?" Zuko picked up a stack of pages in front of him and began scanning them for pertinent information.

"You're late, Zuko." Dian Wu spoke gravely from his spot opposite the table. The other council members shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"I apologize for living in a world that does not take kindly to leaving things unfinished, Dian Wu." Zuko looked up from the paper and glared across the table at the earthbender. He didn't like the thought of this old coward dictating to him what he should and should not care about.

"We have already finalized the nation's plans for this war. You two may run along, if you wish." Dian Wu dodged the insult, choosing not to recognize it as he basked in his own perceived superiority. The others watched uncomfortably from their chairs, looking between the two opposite ends of the table as the two clipped at each other.

"We have done nothing of the sort. Nothing is final without the say of the Fire Lord." An older woman, about the age of eighty, replied harshly to the councilor from the Earth Nation. Time had not been kind to her body, but her mind was quick and sharp. Her papers had already been annotated and organized in order of importance to the situation at hand. This old woman was from the Wall District; the representative of the men and women who stood as primary guards against an attack from the North.

"Of course we have, Lady Isa. Six of us have decided on a course of action; that is the majority. Our plans are solid. You said nothing while we were planning; I assumed that you were in agreement, as well as your countrymen." Dian Wu paused for a moment, and looked over the Fire Nation representatives on the council, who had not even conversed amongst themselves while the planning was going on earlier, just before the Fire Lord entered.

"We withheld our voices to save them for when the Fire Lord arrived. We hoped we would be lucky enough for you to leave before the meeting between those who are intelligent enough to see how grave this situation is." Lady Isa spoke with an even voice, and the rest of the council sat in silence, watching Dian Wu slowly grow red. Even his fellow Earth Nation representative did not come to his defense; doing so would ruin any claim she had to be heard later at the table.

"The Fire Lord deliberately came late to the meeting! How could he know how grave the situation is?" Dian Wu's voice began to rise as he gestured to Zuko, who had been watching this spectacle calmly.

"The Fi-" Isa began speaking, but was interrupted by the sound of a throat clearing at the head of the table.

"Excuse me, Lady Isa. May I answer this question?" Zuko interrupted in a rather relaxed tone, smiling to the elderly woman in a way that noted respect.

"Certainly, Fire Lord Zuko." She nodded back to him and relaxed back in her comfortable chair. Zuko slowly turned his attention to Dian Wu.

"I am fully aware as to the severity of this situation. Because of this, I took the ten minutes that I am certain can be spared to spend time with my family and loved ones, as I will lack any chance of rest once our plans are set into motion. Unlike you, Dian Wu, I will not only be here, in this room, I will also be out with the troops, as a proper leader should. You may complain all you wish about the unfairness of this double standard, but know this; if you do not care to sacrifice anything for the nation you are claiming to be in the best interests of, do not expect to be treated with the same respect as those who have." The entire room was silent as Zuko said his piece. He refrained from raising his voice during the entirety of it, and stared Dian Wu directly in the eyes.

"What would you know of loved ones and family? You killed your own sister and betrayed your father. You are little more than an opportunist." Dian Wu sneered as he stared the young Fire Lord directly in the eyes.

Everyone froze, and all of the candles and torches that lit the room erupted with blue flame. They crackled and reached toward the ceiling as Zuko glared at the earthbender. The flames grew rapidly in size and intensity after their initial eruption, and the other firebenders immediately began tending to restricting their growth. The flames licked at the ceiling and the walls. Dian Wu broke eye contact and looked to the ground; the intensity of Zuko's stare was too much for him.

"My apologies, Fire Lord Zuko. I should not have spoken so harshly." Dian Wu spoke softly, and was barely heard over the crackling of the fires in the room. The young firebender did not look away. Katara reached over and took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently. Almost immediately, in response to the feeling of her hand, the flames dropped back to their initial state.

"Fire Lord Zuko." An elderly man glanced sidelong at Dian Wu, who was quietly shuffling through his papers now that he had been cowed, "We lack the effective military might that we will need for the level of attack we are expecting from the North. I recommend that we send out requests for aid to our allied nations, to supplement our current forces."

"Agreed." Zuko looked to each of the representatives from other nations in turn as he spoke, "Katara, Goma, Dian Wu, Meng, I respectfully request that each of you do what you can to convince your nation's people to assist us in the upcoming war with the North. Please let it be known that if we do not stop them, they will likely make attempts at a repeat of the Great War. They will want vengeance, and they will continue marching all the way back to the walls of Ba Sing Se if they are given a chance."

They nodded their affirmatives, even Dian Wu, who didn't dare look up at Zuko again, lest the Fire Lord purge him from existence with flame. The room still sat silently, and everyone was obviously uncomfortable to the point of being unable to focus. The young Fire Lord appeared to notice this, and stood up from his seat.

"Everyone, let us dismiss ourselves for the time being, as we are going to be unable to focus with such a fresh insult in our minds. Please, return to your homes, and make certain that the people within your districts know of the coming threat. We will reconvene after everyone has had time to spend with their families, as we have all been here in the capitol too long; we may not know fully what is at stake in our upcoming war. If the North attacks in that time, we will come together then. If they do not, then in three weeks, we will come together with knowledge of everything we have to assist us, as well as a straighter aim. Are there any objections?" Zuko spoke in his even, political tone. Even Dian Wu looked up to him with newfound respect.

"I believe that would be fine, Lord Zuko." Isa smiled and stood up. The others rose from their seats and bowed. Before making their ways out of the room. The social room was the antechamber to this room; only serious matters came through these doors. Trivial ones were left outside.

"Dian Wu. May I see you alone for a moment?" Zuko squeezed Katara's hand and gestured for her to head out while he spoke to the earthbender. The other council members paused as he said this, and looked to them before quickly filing out. Katara cast a worried glance back to Zuko, before turning and following the others out quickly. Dian Wu, however, stayed behind, as he was asked.

"Yes, Lord Zuko?" He bowed before the Fire Lord, who slowly walked toward him. He trembled as the flames on the torches near him began to leap and dance wildly in their containers. Zuko calmly stopped within arms' reach of the opposing earthbender, and, without emotion, raised one hand up to eye level.

"I am kind enough to let you go with a warning today. Insult me again, and we _will _have to settle this. Duels have not yet been outlawed here, and you are not skilled enough to defeat me. I suggest that you hold your tongue, lest I be driven to burn it out. Is this understood?" A bright blue flame sparked up at the tips of Zuko's fingers, close enough to Dian Wu to make the smaller man step back involuntarily. In an instant, the flames disappeared, and Zuko began walking to the exit. Dian Wu did not follow, nor did he respond. The point had been made; there was a line there, and it had been crossed. To do so again would result, if not in death, then in a state worse than death.

Zuko exited and stepped next to Katara, who had been watching the door while he had been inside with Dian Wu. Nobody else looked to them as they took each others' hands and began walking out to a sitting room on the other side of the palace. The young Fire Lord looked to his fiancée and smiled, but she did not smile back; instead, she looked worried.

"Is something the matter?" Zuko dropped the smile for concern. He felt a tingling in the back of his mind as he asked; something similar to a whispering of the answer to his own question. He ignored it, however, and listened for Katara's response.

"It's scary how you wear so many different masks now. You switch between them almost effortlessly... it's getting hard to tell which ones are real, and which ones aren't. And, well, the one you wear in the council chamber, especially when dealing with Dian Wu... it's, well, do you really _think_ that way?" Katara stopped in the hall and looked up to him, watching his face. She hated it when he seemed to turn into a different person once a situation changed. It unnerved her; how could she feel she knew so little about the man she was to marry?

"I don't. I keep that face because the people of my country respect power above all else. In time, I can eliminate the mask. But... until everything is stable again... I don't think it's a good idea." He reached out and grasped her other hand, looking a bit worried himself. His masks were a powerful defense, but he couldn't employ them while speaking with his love. Hiding things from her was a bad idea.

"Are you sure? Lady Isa and Du Mu seem to think highly of you, even though they have seen the side you seem to want to hide so much." Katara smiled a little at the last part and brushed his sides with the back of her hands.

"That's because they're good friends of my uncle, I'm sure. But... I see your point. I suppose a majority is fine. I'll try to cut down on the whole 'menacing presence on the council' bit." He glanced back toward the council chamber where they headed out, before smiling a bit.

"Thanks. It's always disturbing to see you suddenly shift from the Zuko I know to that odd atavism." She smiled, hoping that he was being true to his word. He had gotten much better at lying over the past ten years, much to her chagrin. While she didn't want him to be like Aang, as they were two different people; it wouldn't hurt for him to be a little more carefree.

"I'll do my best. The last thing I want to do is scare you off. Especially after we've spent the past two years together." He smirked as he turned to begin walking again, and went about the way to where their rooms were situated. He caught a glimpse of the sky outside; enough to determine that it would be getting dark in a short time.

"Do you need to be somewhere tonight?" Katara caught him looking out of the window for a brief moment, before he kept walking. He had a habit of looking at the sky fairly often; she wondered what he was looking for up there.

"I don't _have_ to be, but an old friend said she would be in town tonight. I haven't seen her in about six months." Zuko turned his attention back to her as they continued their circuitous path through the palace to their rooms on the other side.

"Ah. Go and see Mai then; it's been longer than that. You don't have to hide her name from me, you know." Katara smiled a bit as Zuko paused with a confused look on his face. She stopped outside of her room and looked up into his eyes, "I know about her; don't worry. I trust you."

"Oh. Well... that wasn't expected." He smiled a bit himself, but was quite puzzled at how she knew who he would be meeting. Katara laughed a bit at the confused look on his face as he tried to wrap his mind around her knowledge.

"I have my ways of finding things out. Of course, she's also the only person you don't refer to by name when you're going out to meet with her. Everyone else, you tend to tell me everything." She winked and kissed him on the cheek, before patting him lightly, "You're not very subtle sometimes. It's cute."

"I never noticed that I did that... weird." He pondered for a moment, before tilting his head to the side a bit, "I suppose you knowing makes sense; Sokka _did_ date Ty Lee for a little while."

"Yes, he did. And she talks a lot; we see each other every now and then. She's a sweet girl, when she's not trying to kill you." She smiled a bit before moving toward her door. Zuko slipped along, following her out of reflex.

"I suppose she would be, I never really encountered her except around my sister. Which, well, has obvious problems." He stopped at the threshold of her door and looked around her room. It was very neat and organized, despite the amount of items inside. He liked it better than his sparsely decorated room. His eyes followed all of the lines of the room to finally fall on her desk, where a massive stack of papers sat, "... Are those what I think they are? How long have you known, exactly?"

"Those are the responses, actually. That's from the people who can make it. I'm working on sorting things out for the reception. I guess I started about two months ago. Oh. And I can read your mind now." She made little motions with her hands and swayed back and forth, as if she were trying to cast a spell on him. Zuko laughed and leaned on the frame of the door a bit.

"And if I _didn't_ ask you to marry me?" He moved in and slipped his fingers in between hers and gently moved her hands out of the way as he stopped right in front of her. Katara grinned widely at his sudden movement and the question itself.

"Well..." She rose up to the tips of her toes and kissed him before smiling once more, "If you didn't, then I guess we would have a monument to a certain young Fire Lord, alongside the shrine."

"That's not right at all." Zuko smirked, "You wouldn't actually do that, now, would you?"

"Of course not. I read your mind, remember? I didn't need to." She moved his hands around idly, as if they were dancing. Zuko began moving a bit, himself, and they slowly danced across the room. Katara looked down at his feet, "Hmm. We're going to need to teach you how to dance before the wedding."

"What's wrong with my dancing?" Zuko looked down at his feet in an attempt to determine what was wrong with his steps. He couldn't see anything wrong there.

"You're not relaxing; you feel like you're going to fight, not dance." She looked back up to him, smiling, "Once you get back from seeing Mai tonight, I can help you out a little. We're going to have to get an early start at teaching you how to do it."

"Do I have to go now? I don't really feel like it anymore." He shifted his eyes off to the side for a moment before looking back into her eyes.

"Go on; I can't get any planning done while you're around, anyway. You're a big, cute distraction." She leaned her head against him for a moment, which gave him a bit of pause. He slipped his arms around her and smiled for a few moments before she poked him in the stomach, causing him to step back a bit, "Go on, shoo. I'll see you later tonight."

Zuko began to protest a bit before sighing a little. He kissed her and stepped backwards through the door. He stood there for a moment, lost in thought as she stepped up a bit and started closing the door. The door slipped into its normal position and clicked into place, before Zuko realized that he was out of her room. He shook his head and grinned a bit before making his way out of the palace and into the rain.

**A/N: This answers some questions, but raises a lot more! Hopefully, at least. I don't know what genre to classify this story as, as it's not big on one thing for most of the time. It's building slowly to action, I suppose, with the war and all, but as a destination, the war doesn't appeal to me, so I'll likely be taking my time in getting there. Here's to hoping that I can keep it interesting.**


	4. Mai

**CH4: Mai**

Zuko hated it when he did things like this; he was already halfway to the tea house where he would be meeting Mai., and the rain was still pouring down. He had forgotten to bring anything that would constitute protection from the elements. He was soaked again, down to his skin. The rain was beneficial, he supposed, because it allowed him to get his mind off of Katara for a time. She knew exactly what to do to get his attention; he only wished that he knew how to get hers.

The tea house was a different one from the one he visited earlier in the day. This place was owned by a young man who had returned from Ba Sing Se after it had fallen to the Water Tribe's most renowned general. The tea-shop owner had learned a lot in Ba Sing Se, and he made some of the best tea in the new capitol of the Southern Fire Nation.

Zuko stepped into the shelter of the tea house and plodded toward a table near the door. Water dripped off of him as he sat. A puddle formed on the floor below him while he waited for Mai to show up. The young man who ran this tea house immediately fetched him a cup of tea; he knew what the Fire Lord desired, and was honored to be the man serving him tonight.

"Congratulations." Mai spoke evenly as she sat down across from Zuko, causing him to tense up a bit and cough up a bit of the tea he had been drinking.

"For what?" Zuko coughed and placed the tea down on the table, clearing his throat in an attempt to get the fluid out. He looked her over; she wasn't so different after six months, though she hadn't changed much in ten years either. Of course, she was completely dry, a fact that made him a bit envious of her. She produced a rolled up piece of paper and placed it on the table in front of him; a wedding invitation.

"Your marriage, of course. Though, that girl will be the death of you." She snatched the piece of paper back up, and looked to the young man, who obviously recognized her and waved. The young man went about preparing her tea as well.

"Why would you say something like that? How did that even get to you, anyway? You never seem to keep any " Zuko picked his tea back up and continued to drink it. He wasn't going to let Mai's attempts at unnerving him get him off balance; he knew she was a double agent now, and letting her screw with him wouldn't be good for his position.

"These little letters? They're all across the world now. Southern Water Tribe, Northern Water Tribe, Ba Sing Se, Omashu, you name it, these are there, in the hands of at least one person. It managed to find its way to me north of the Wall." She nodded to the young man who came with her tea before he scurried back to his place in the back of the shop.

"I see. So the North is going to come crashing down on me on my wedding day? That seems a bit low." Zuko placed his cup on the table and thought for a moment; that sort of plan was suicide, considering the amount of guards and powerful benders in the area.

"The North simply wants supremacy. In their desire for power and revenge, they have lost much of their honor. Just like their leader." She sipped from her tea for a moment, watching Zuko before her. She did feel a sense of enjoyment in this; or, at least, an absence of boredom. Bringing two nations together in war was at least something to do, and the aftermath would be interesting as well.

"Who _is_ their leader, anyway? We haven't heard anything down here about the name of the man, or what he's capable of doing." He placed his hands on the edge of the table, waiting for the tiny snippet of information he was to receive. He knew he was giving her fodder for the other nation, and attempted to appear as eager as possible to learn any scrap of new information. This eagerness would likely be construed as weakness. At least, he hoped.

"His name is Zhao. You knew his father well, and are the one known to be responsible for his death, as well. He's a powerful, impulsive young firebender. Much like you used to be, when you were his age." Mai watched as Zuko's expression changed for a moment to one of surprise before he fixed it. This war was going to be interesting; maybe not as much as the Great War, but it would be interesting nonetheless.

"Zhao? As in, son of Admiral Zhao? That's... wow. That man had some ego. He couldn't even expect his name to go down in history without attaching it to his kid." Zuko smirked a little, he hated to speak ill of the dead, but the old admiral was an exception. The fool was so deep in his hubris that he couldn't even be moved to save his own life.

"The very same. They have very clever people up in the North; some of the greatest minds the Fire Nation has ever seen. You would do well to send some of your own intelligence agents in, to see what they have made. I doubt you would take my word alone for it." She finished off her tea and set the cup down on the table as she made her attempt at baiting Zuko with glimpses of more information. The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know about how much he would give her in return.

"I thought you were one of my own intelligence agents." Zuko smiled a bit, a sliver of overconfidence showing, "I'm sure you could give me some idea of what they have that we do not."

"I work for myself, Lord Zuko. My interests lie in seeing my country united again. Whether it be under you or Lord Zhao is only the concern of destiny itself." She said this earnestly, and with as much conviction as she had ever put to any words she told someone else. Zuko appeared to believe it, but she certainly knew it to be a lie. She had her preferences, but none would know except her until the final cut had been made to the dying nation.

"I see. I could make a few accommodations for you, then. My apologies for misinterpreting you. But, I still want to know, what sort of new devices do t hey have?" He fed her a false apology, which she seemed to accept despite knowing how hollow it was. He would pay, of course, whether it was voluntary or not.

"They have better flying machines now. Similar to the ones of the Great War, only they have been greatly improved. They also have a weapon that I wasn't able to learn much about, other than that it is said to be a special ship that passes below the waves." She knew more than she was saying, but she didn't let on to it. Keeping up appearances was the most important part of this; she couldn't let Zuko get his hooks into her, as she had already managed to sink hers into him. Keeping him hooked was important, as she couldn't go back to the North empty handed.

"Impressive. We don't have much in the way of new things, here. We will be receiving a few troops from the other nations, though. Not much, as they won't spare more than a few; the bastards are treating this like it's not their problem." Zuko lowered his head a bit and looked at his glass, before looking back up to Mai. She didn't seem to pick up on his tiny deception. He turned his attention to the young man in back, who returned to refill the cup. The rest of the tea house was empty, and had been for some time now. The young man was looking nervous, as he disliked the fact that these two were staying far past his normal operating hours, which always seemed to lead to trouble.

"Ah. Of course. Excessive self-interest can be such a bother, sometimes." She held her cup out to the young man, and he took it to have it refilled as well.

"So, enough business. How have you been? I mean, I don't see you for six months and all we talk about is the war? How have you been getting along up there? Do you need anything?" Zuko placed his hands gently around his cup, feeling the warmth with his fingers. He was feeling cold now; the wet clothes around his body were draining the heat from him.

"I have been fine; just traveling a bit within the country. Town to town, place to place. Trying to find something I haven't done before." She gently plucked her cup from the hands of the shop owner as he came back and placed it down on the table before her. She had hoped that she would manage to get out of this before Zuko started asking personal questions and putting on his 'nice boy' routine. Too late.

"Ah. Well, since the war is starting up, maybe it might be a good idea to head off to other lands for a while? You could maybe do some of the little things that the Avatar used to do. You know, penguin sledding, elephant koi riding, gliding around at the northern air temple, things like that. Some adrenaline might do you good. You haven't left the area since the whole mess ten years ago." Zuko smiled in a rather friendly manner, which gave Mai some pause. She took a large gulp of tea as he spoke. He sat silently for a bit and watched her, before looking back down to his reflection in the surface of the tea.

"... You know what?" She spoke up after a moment of awkward silence.

"What?"

"I might just do that." She placed her cup back down and looked across the table at Zuko, who had resumed his smile, "What are you smiling about?"

"Just glad that you might finally find something you can enjoy out there. You've been in a state of perpetual ennui for a long time now, and it's gotten worse since..." He trailed off, looking to her for a moment and pausing.

"Since Azula died. I suppose it is time to go out into the world again." She stood up and moved out into the aisle, stretching a bit as she stood. She pulled a parasol out and moved toward the door. Zuko finished off his tea and stood up as well. He left a couple of large-denomination coins on the table for the young shopkeeper as he moved to follow her outside.

"I can help you out with enough supplies to last you your travels for a few months, if you would like." He walked with her through the rain toward the palace. It hadn't let up, and he was again getting soaked.

"Just keep me in the palace for the night, and get me free passage to the Earth Nation, and it should be fine. I figure that I might try to go travel about on the back of an ostrich-horse. Being alone and not kept-after for a while might be, well, interesting." She looked over the palace as they approached, and noted the lack of guards toward the inside of the grounds. She said nothing about this, however, on the assumption that Zuko would notice soon enough.

"Consider it done, then." He looked back to the palace as they walked, and stretched a bit before stopping mid-stretch. He surveyed the grounds before jogging ahead.

Katara looked up from her papers as there was a knock on her door. She organized her things for a moment and yawned as she stood up and looked toward the window. It didn't feel late enough for Zuko to be back yet, but it wasn't impossible.

"Back so soon?" She opened the door, and outside were several of the palace guardsmen. They stood at attention, and the one in front, Bizo, bowed to her. She paused for a moment, "Sorry, I thought you were Lord Zuko. Is something the matter?"

"Lady Katara. The Fire Lord has sent word that he has discovered there will be an attempt on your life tonight. He requested that we accompany you down to the docks so that you may take the first ship out of the nation, so that you will no longer be in danger." Bizo was serious, and the other men stood fast, their spears at the ready. They waited eagerly for her response.

"Where is the Fire Lord?" Katara stood her ground while talking to the guardsmen, her hands relaxed at her side. There was always water on hand, just in case, but these men were no threat; they were here to protect her, and had been for some time.

"He is ending his meeting with his informant, but he said he is going to be heading north to round up emergency forces once he is certain that you are safe." The guardsman stepped back a bit to make room for her, "We must go quickly, so that the plot may be foiled."

"Of course. There is only one thing I require before I go, to be certain that I am not being deceived. What code did the Fire Lord give you to tell me?" She smiled, and watched as some of the peripheral guardsmen began to sweat a bit. Things were not as they seemed.

"Certainly. The code that Lord Zuko gave us was... Avatar." Bizo almost paused for too long, but he felt confident in his save. He didn't let the relief show on his face, however.

"Gentlemen, please get some sleep. You shouldn't be up and attempting silly tricks this time of night." Katara began to close the door, but Zao stepped up and thrust his hand against it to keep it open. Katara retreated into her room a few more steps and began bringing water to her hands, "You don't want to do this."

"Maybe she's right, guys. We shouldn't be doing this. What if the Fire Lord catches us?" Yozan, around the back of the pack, spoke up in a tone that Katara could barely hear from her position. He was looking down the hallway almost every other moment, hoping that they wouldn't be discovered.

"Shut up, Yozan. This is for the good of the Fire Nation. If we don't do this, then what happens when they marry? It won't be right." Bizo lowered his spear a bit, keeping an eye on Katara, "We don't want to hurt you. We just want you gone."

"And what of the Fire Lord's desires?" Katara drew water from the small cistern near the doorway, bringing it into a defensive position. She waited for the guardsmen to approach, as she threaded the water around her body idly.

"The Fire Lord desires that his nation comes together under him. It's not likely that such a thing will happen if he is wed to a woman from the Southern Water Tribe. The people would not accept it. Even though he claims to love you, he simply does not know any better." Bizo spoke as he moved forward a bit more, one hand on his spear, the other out towards her, beckoning for her to come to him. Katara held her ground, the speed of the water increasing as she watched them look to each other in an attempt to communicate a plan without her hearing. They didn't seem very organized.

"Look, Bizo, I think we're in a bit over our heads here." Zao watched Katara as he stood near the door, holding it open as the others moved forward again. He had never encountered a waterbender in a fight before, but he knew that it was going to hurt, and there was little he could do to stop it.

"Just grab her, Muro." Bizo moved in quickly to grab her before being snapped in the face with the water. He stumbled back a bit, and the others simply stood still and watched Bizo move away a bit.

"You know, you all can still manage to get back to your posts before the Fire Lord returns, without any consequences." Katara brought the water around so that it was pooling at her feet and spreading out along the ground in a thin layer towards the door. The guards simply watched her, not paying any attention to the water as it slowly made its way around their feet.

"No, they can't." Zuko's voice was heard as he appeared in the doorway, next to the others. He was soaked in water, and a flame was burning at his right hand, "It's a bit too late for that."

**A/N: And more and more. I've already pulled in inspiration for the next chapter, and by the time this is posted, I'll likely be halfway through with it, if not more. I seem to be moving at a decent pace through all of this on the writing side of things, as I can't go a day without adding more. Here goes!**


	5. Trial By Fire

**CH5: Trial by Fire**

"It's too late for that." Zuko stood in the well-lit hall, with a ball of fire burning in his left hand. The guardsmen stopped completely and looked to him in shock; he had come home before they had expected. Zuko was not amused; coming back to see something like this going on, while soaking wet, did not allow for him to have a good attitude. The men, surprised at the entrance of their master, became docile almost immediately in an attempt to look as if they were doing nothing wrong. They were like children, rather than soldiers; instead of owning up to their mistake, they continued on to attempt to cover it.

"Fire Lord Zuko, sir! We were just... um, we had just come here to uh, make sure that Lady Katara was safe." Zao bowed to him quickly, hoping that the Fire Lord would overlook the fact that Bizo was still rubbing the sore spot on his face where he had been hit with the water.

"Yes, sir. We heard there was going to be an assassination attempt tonight, when we overheard your uh, informant talking about it." Yozan spoke up quickly from the back of the group, his voice trembling as he spoke. He knew that there was a meeting going on, and he hoped that the informant had been shady enough for this to be something legitimate. He held his free hand tightly against his body, and rubbed it up against his armor to get his sweat off. The heat from the Fire Lord's hand felt like it was already upon him.?

"Oh, really. And what did the informant look like?" Zuko watched Yozan's trembling, and gave a quick nod to Katara. Mai peeked out from behind Zuko, where she had been standing from the beginning of this conversation. Katara nodded back in a jerky manner,

"He was a short guy with dark hair. Kept it up in a topknot, but it didn't keep him from looking suspicious. He looked kinda like your uncle, only, you know, devious and conniving. Like a lie put into human form." Muro looked between the others idly. He had a slight smirk on his face, as if he was trying to keep himself from laughing. He was shaking visibly, however, and looked more nervous than amused.

"I see. Katara, could you please show Mai to her room? I need to have a talk with these men." The young Fire Lord's tone was at first calm, but changed to severe and threatening when he turned his attention to the guardsmen; there was only a thin veneer of civility masking the promise of imminent violence. The flame in his hand doubled in size and heat, making the entirety of the hall unbearably hot. The paint on the walls nearby began to crack and peel, and the water on the floor near him began to simmer. Mai and Katara looked to each other for a few moments before making their way away from the scene.

The guardsmen silently turned and began to walk to the exit, each of them silent, as if they had just been given the death sentence. The floorboards dried out as a result of the heat, and the paint continued to warp and boil away as they walked out of the front door and into the garden. The rain had let up a bit in the past minute, and the tiny droplets sizzled as they hit the flame in Zuko's hand. He stopped after a bit, and the men lined up in front of him..

"I want one good reason why I shouldn't turn each of you into a smoking crater for trying to abduct my wife-to-be." Zuko spoke quietly, so as not to be overheard, but the tone in his voice carried the threat evenly. The fire in his hand, however, made it known to all who had line of sight that something was wrong. It was a controlled inferno of a type not seen since the last war, and it was growing. The guardsmen began chattering all at once, before they stopped each other and spoke in order.

"I thought she was manipulating you, sir. We didn't mean to harm her, just, you know, get her out of the way, sir." Zao, too, spoke evenly, but without anything resembling emotion. He was frozen in place.

"If you two stay together, well, won't people start revolting, sir?" Bizo spoke up; he had already dedicated himself to the task, and didn't bother with fearing the inevitable.

"Eh-heh, well, uh, sir, I figured it would be kind of a funny practical joke." Muro was barely getting his words out and cackling half-madly. He brought his hands up in odd gestures, "You know, 'Ha ha, where's my Queen?' 'Oh, she's been over here the whole time.' You know, right?"

"I don't know why I did it, sir. I just felt that it would be in the best interests of the Fire Nation if you were not distracted when the time comes for the war. However, now that I know that you will be marrying her, my concerns are, well, gone, sir." Yozan spoke boldly, but his posture contradicted his voice. He had never expected to be on the Fire Lord's bad side, finding himself on the spot after he stood up for the man earlier in the day was a disturbing occurrence.

"Those don't sound like good reasons!" Zuko quickly punched at the air between himself and the four guardsmen with the fist that held the searing-hot fireball. As he released it, the ball exploded into the air, sending shockwaves all around. It did less damage than it appeared to be capable of; it burned the unready guardsmen a bit, though most had managed to cancel it at least a little to keep themselves from being immolated. They were each knocked to the ground as a result of the blast, and Zuko stood above them in a menacing stance.

The silence following the blast was deafening. Zuko had not tired from the release of energy; instead he looked angrier than he had before releasing the blast. The men slowly made their way to their feet, watching Lord Zuko carefully, with hope that he would not launch another blast of that magnitude. Zuko simply took a few steps back and placed a hand over the ground. With a sweep of his hand, blue flame hit the ground and created a wall of fire hotter than the previous blast. He calmed himself and focused, now out of sight of the four guardsmen, and held the flames in place while keeping them fed. The wall was a normal flame, but almost as hot as the blue flames he had created earlier. The guardsmen, even with their firebending skills, felt as if they were burning up, and they were more than a few yards away from the flame.

"A simple way to solve this is a trial by fire. If you are man enough to walk through the flames, then you may stay on my personal guard. Refuse, and you will be on the front lines against the North when the war reaches us. Should you pass through, the treachery you have attempted to commit upon me will be forgiven. I do not wish to exile you, but you have placed yourselves in this position. Choose wisely." Zuko's voice was warped and changed as it passed through the flames; he sounded much more dangerous than the guardsmen could conceive. The face-height flames did nothing to allay their fears; this was a lose-lose situation, any way they cut it.

Fire Lord Zuko smiled inwardly as he watched the guardsmen look to each other then to the wall of flame. This was a trick, of course, but the guardsmen didn't know. The rainwater on the spot of the fire flash-boiled, and the water remaining on the ground began to cook away. Falling rain rarely touched the fire itself, instead boiling away as it neared the fire. The flame threw light and shadow as far as the buildings in each direction.

"I'm going through." Yozan looked to the others with a grim face as he brought his hands up into a proper stance for moving through blazes. He slowly approached the wall of flame and felt the intense heat on his skin. The others watched silently as Yozan then quickly darted through the flames. A quick eye would have noticed that where he passed through was momentarily devoid of flames of any sort, but the eyes of the other three guardsmen saw nothing of the sort.

"Stay silent, keep the flames from moving; don't let the others know that you got through with little harm." Zuko whispered in a barely audible tone to the slightly charred Yozan, who had made it through fine. Yozan nodded in quiet agreement and took the same pose as Lord Zuko; to help reinforce the fire. There were three left on the other side.

Zao slowly approached the flame and held a hand out, before stopping and stepping back. He watched the flames lap at the air hungrily, and could not help but imagine them as the teeth of some large beast, ready to devour him. He retreated back to where Bizo and Muro stood. Muro looked at the wall of flame, and lowered his shoulders before taking the stance that Yozan had taken before him. He then passed through the flames and joined the two on the other side.

Now only Bizo and Zao stayed on the side where the men had began. The fire seared the ground before them, and even scorched the grasses in the area where they stood. There was no sound other than the crackle of the fire. They watched the blaze for any sign that the others had gotten through, but there was no indication of anything of the sort. For ten minutes they stood, watching, waiting, before the voice from the other side of the fire came through.

"Will you step through the fire, or will you simply sit and watch your attempt at redemption as it dies?" Zuko spoke in the same, cold voice he had done before. The crackle and roar of the flames further distorted this, and the men on the other side knew not what to do. Zuko rose his voice, "You have two more minutes to make your decision. If you do not cross in that time, your chance will pass."

Once more, spurred on by the Fire Lord's words, Zao stepped forward toward the fire. He closed his eyes and held his breath before stomping through the fire and pushing through until his face felt the cool night air on the other side. The rain that was still falling was a bit warm now, but it felt wonderfully refreshing compared to the blazing inferno behind him. Muro moved to him and whispered the orders he was to follow. Only Bizo remained on the other side.

Bizo, the squad leader of this group of the palace guard, was unmoved. He loved his nation, but he could not summon the desire to place himself in the furnace before him. If he was to be burned alive, he would rather it be on the battlefield than in some foolish test of loyalty. The Fire Lord had already gained three willing lapdogs, but Bizo refused to become the fourth. He sat down on the ground and watched the flames. Yozan and Zao brought a large cask of water back and went about dousing the flames as Zuko and Muro kept the blaze in check. After a few moments, only the scar where the flames had scorched the earth was left, and the world was dark again.

"Then, tomorrow morning, you will travel with Lady Isa to the Wall, and join a unit there. I wish you the best of luck." Zuko bowed to him a bit, inwardly regretting Bizo's choice. He then turned and made his way back into the palace. The four guardsmen simply looked to each other and made their way off of the grounds, even though he had not told them to do so. Three were forgiven, and the fourth had his orders. The new guard was moving in for their shift, and the four continued off to venture to a place where they could drink and say their goodbyes to the fourth.

Zuko stopped at Katara's room once he had gotten back in. He reeked of the odors of fire, a scent he had been born to, but he never could ignore the scent. Katara wrinkled her nose as she opened the door, and looked out into the hallway, over the damage left by the fireball earlier.

"I hope you didn't hurt them too badly." She looked up into his eyes, and he shook his head in response.

"I didn't hurt them at all. Maybe their pride, but that mends itself over time." He smiled, and his teeth showed brightly in his darkened face. Katara allowed herself a smile before hugging him. He kissed her on the forehead as they embraced.

"You should take a bath before going to bed." Katara said, speaking out of the side of her mouth. She looked up to him and grinned a bit, and Zuko chuckled.

"I probably should get into the habit, I suppose. I doubt you'd let me in bed if I smelled like this."

"I wouldn't let you in the room." She poked the small of his back in jest.

"And if I came in anyway?" He grinned a bit, and stepped forward a little, barely crossing the threshold. Katara leaned back from him a little, and glanced to the cistern of water nearby.

"Then I'd probably be forced to wash you. " She looked back to his grinning face, but put on a mock-serious look, "Of course, it would be like being bathed by a typhoon. I wouldn't be able to guarantee your safety."

"I'll be sure to keep clean, then." Zuko chuckled again before kissing her and stepping back over the threshold into the hall. She smiled and released him, "I'll be taking that bath now. I'll see you in the morning; we have to start getting things ready for the wedding."

"Good night." Katara smiled and closed the door.

Feeling much better now that the day was over, Zuko made his way to the baths and disrobed. He settled down into it and began heating the water himself, much like his uncle had back when they were traveling around the Earth Kingdom.

The silence in the room was nearly complete, except for the light, repeating notes of the rain outside. The young Fire Lord leaned back and looked at the ceiling as he sank deep into his thoughts. He thought of the war on the horizon, his wedding, his uncle... everything drifted in front of him. All of the events that had transpired through the day.

He exhaled deeply as he listened to the monotonous drumming of the rain on the roof and ground outside, and found himself relaxed and calm. A deep rumble of thunder sounded in the distance as he began to drift off to sleep. He brought the water to a warmer temperature for a few moments, before he slipped off into a dream.

Fire surrounded him, and there were many men of many nations fighting. On one side, the Fire Nation. On the other side, peoples of the Water Nations and Earth Kingdoms. He was dressed in his old traveler's outfit, the one he wore on his trek alone through the Earth Kingdom lands. It was the Dawn. The day after the eclipse.

Far ahead of him, to his left, was his father and sister leading the Fire Nation to their assumed victory. To his right, at a similar distance, was the Earth Nation camp that had been erected the night before. The turning point hovered before him, as it had every night on the anniversary of the Fire Lord's defeat. The anniversary of the Avatar's sacrifice.

**A/N: Today is a sad day, because once I've uploaded this, my awesome word count (11337) is disrupted. Sorries for the tantalizing prospect of action without delivery. There will be plenty coming soon. However, I get to move the story ahead. Apologies in advance for those of you who hate dream sequences, but I figure they're more fun than having characters chatter on and on about something. I'm not Edith Wharton and this isn't Roman Fever, so we can just have fun surrealism.**


	6. Dawn

**CH6: Dawn**

The sun had not yet climbed into the sky. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of the defeated from the day prior. The eclipse had claimed a large number of Fire Nation troops. There was no warning that could have saved the men who were caught by surprise when Earth Kingdom troops hit the ground running and claimed a massive amount of lives.

The crushing defeats on the day of the eclipse were so bad for morale that, in the middle of the night, Fire Lord Ozai himself made his way to the front lines, rallying his troops along the way. He strode to the front clad in resplendent, yet functional, armor. Azula stood at his side in armor that echoed the type her father wore. Zuko was about a hundred yards away, dressed in the standard armor of the army firebenders.

He had appropriated this armor once they had landed in the Fire Nation. While he had entered with Azula, she had told him to stay out of Ozai's sight. He had known she was not offering him any sort of redemption, even when he apparently turned on his uncle back in Ba Sing Se. That moment still weighed heavily on him. The sun rose in the west over the Earth Nation camp, which was some hundred yards away from the front lines of the Fire nation army. An earthen wall ten feet high separated the two forces.

The Fire Nation soldiers breathed in the sun as it touched their armor. They basked in the glow as it recharged them, rejuvenated them, empowered them. With a shout from Fire Lord Ozai, they began to march to the earthen wall where the enemy camp was held. War machines threw massive fireballs over and into the wall. War balloons floated in the air above with ceramic bowls filled with boiling pitch. The sky was dark even as the sun climbed into the sky.

Spearmen marched with their weapons at the ready, and their tanks launched their grappling hooks at the wall, over the wall, through the wall, working to dismantle it and grant entry to the glowing red troops. The glorious Fire Nation. The Dawn. The men were singing. The speech was garbled, but the feeling was there. Glory to the Fire nation! Glory to Fire Lord Ozai! Glory to Princess Azula! Death to the Avatar! He found himself caught up in the singing, bellowing from the depths of his stomach the grand anthem composed for war.

The wall fell, crumbling into a billion pieces, but where each piece fell, an earthbender appeared. Massive trenches spread out from the breaks in the wall, causing men to fall onto each other, creating obscene piles of men, writhing masses of people stuck and clawing their ways out. Flames began to erupt from the ground on the battlefield. The jungles around them warped and transformed into blazing fields of fire, as mountains and valleys shifted and swayed, and the earth shook with each terrifying, choreographed motion of both armies.

The sky rained a thousand flames, pouring them out onto the battlefield. Stones also fell from the sky, striking war balloons and dragging them down onto the troops. The earthbenders were everywhere, and nowhere at once. Zuko marched on, making his way slowly up behind the Fire Lord, slowly behind Azula. They were still long and far away, but he would reach them, he was certain. He had to. It was the only way for this to end.

Suddenly, in the sky, a massive six-legged beast roared into view. Its white color defied the sky, standing out against it. Zuko smiled as the beast dove down and stomped on many firebenders ahead of him. The Avatar was not on this creature. Where was he? The Avatar's companions; the young, beautiful Katara, her capable brother, the small blind girl, and a Kyoshi warrior, made their way off of the back of the magnificent beast quickly, and began making a clearing in the masses of Fire Nation soldiers. An old, stern looking face then took the beast's reins and made him go back into the air.

Uncle Iroh! Zuko reached out, as if he could touch the old man, and shouted. The rest of the soldiers behind him reached into the sky and shouted as well, not understanding, not caring. Zuko was alone. As the beast made its way away, Zuko felt as if he had been abandoned. He soldiered on, marching forward. Where was the Avatar? Where could he be?

Suddenly, a great wind crashed upon the front lines, separating Azula from the Fire Lord and blowing her well into the clutches of the Avatar's companions. The Avatar himself swooped down and planted himself in front of the Fire Lord before taking a stance. Zuko soldiered on. He would make it to the fight soon enough.

The Fire Lord launched a bolt of lightning at the Avatar, as they grew in size to take up the entire left half of the field. The shouts and sounds of war slowly became little more than a murmur as the two titans clashed on one side of the field. Azula and the Avatar's companions did so as well. Ty Lee was soon with Azula on the battlefield, but Mai was nowhere to be seen. The Avatar caught the lightning and redirected it, much to Zuko's surprise. The lightning was channeled away into a war balloon that was readying a drop of pitch.

Azula, on the other hand, was keeping her fight with the others close. Zuko could not tell why, as he slowly came closer to her, riding the surge of men as they changed directions to account for an earthbender attack from the rear. The small blind girl immobilized Ty Lee easily, rooting her to the ground and sealing her up so that she would no longer be a problem. Katara worked as crowd control, as she had been dropped in a disadvantageous position; she couldn't support her brother nor the Kyoshi warrior. The warriors did their best to distract Azula, striking at her and keeping her attention divided as much as possible while slowly wearing her down.

The Fire Lord and the Avatar dove into melee combat with each other. The small Avatar canceled each of the older firebender's moves. As Zuko watched, he could see the flaws in his father's style. He used too much power in all of his moves; he lacked finesse. However, gouts of flame seared the air around the young Avatar, catching him and burning him as time went on. Zuko turned his attention away from that fight, and back to Azula's. The fight between the Avatar and the Fire Lord was already decided, but Azula was not yet confirmed.

Ty Lee had been broken free, and began taking to Katara's brother, taunting him and evading his strikes. She was lighter on her feet now, and the small blind girl was having trouble locating her. Zuko found himself almost in reach of Azula. He started positioning himself, when he was swatted away by Katara's water whip. He was knocked off of his feet and landed on his back, which turned his attention skyward.

The sky, even though the sun was steadily rising, remained black. The stars in the heavens showed as if it were still night. Their battle played amongst the bright points of light as well, within the constellations. Battles raged from the North Star to the periphery of his vision, dancing in front of him. He heard Katara cry out as he climbed up to his feet, and saw Ty Lee darting away from her to torment her brother again. Katara's waterbending was no longer an asset.

As he climbed to his feet, the world slowed, and he took a survey of the world. Far to his left, in the sky, dancing over mountains and through the stars, was the Fire Lord and the Avatar. They fought with intense ferocity, and were locked together in an inescapable dance of air, earth, and fire. Before him, and to his right, Azula was in the process of launching a bolt of lightning at the Kyoshi warrior, who was knocking Ty Lee away from the young warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. The little blind girl was controlling the battlefield, trying to work with what she had to keep Azula's reinforcements at bay. Katara was helpless on the battlefield.

Sensing that his chance had finally come, Zuko slipped his leg forward and brought his hands up. This was his only chance. He started his motions merely milliseconds before Azula's lightning cut through the Kyoshi warrior. He could do nothing to save her, but he felt Katara's brother's eyes on him. He felt hatred and anger radiating from the other young man, but he could do nothing, the moment in time had passed.

He felt the heat burning up inside of him; he knew he could not channel lightning, but he continued through the form anyway. Azula turned to face him as he entered the final moment. Her jaw dropped in surprise as his strike stopped merely a centimeter away from her face. Zuko could not channel lightning. There was no electric blue spark. Instead, there was an explosion.

An explosion that rocked the world.

All eyes were on him as he was blown back by the blast. The battle stopped, and all looked at him. Everyone took in the sight; the earthbenders, the firebenders, the Avatar and his party, even the Fire Lord. He removed the white faceplate from his helmet and threw it to the ground as he stood on a hill over the location where he had killed his sister. He had killed his sister. This ran through the battlefield, and the expressions changed as the world began to swirl away.

The world spun about, keeping him at the center. The Fire Lord grew larger, tall enough to reach the sun with his topknot, and broader at the shoulder than the walls of Ba Sing Se. There were no words, just soundless rage and fury. Flames burned all around the image of Ozai.

Do you really want me dead, Father? Am I still simply lucky to be born? Zuko's thoughts echoed in his mind, a sarcastic tone now; the voice of a superior man speaking them without words. He found himself to be superior in those few moments.

You have betrayed me! You will regret that! His father's words were easily inferred from the expression on his face. The Fire Lord morphed into an inhuman beast, a massive creature with flames for skin that breathed lightning.

Your blood no longer flows through me, Father. You are dead, and I have not been your son in years. Your line is dead. The world has slipped from your hands, and you will forever be remembered as the Fire Nation's greatest failure. Zuko's spirit cried out in the moment, as the Fire Lord reached down in an attempt to crush him. The younger firebender simply held his ground, watching the elder bemusedly. Ozai's line was broken. Even if he lived now, his nation would falter. He, the most powerful man in all of the Fire Nation, now had no successor in place to take the throne when he died.

You are a fool. The Avatar will die, and you will fall with him. You will never be the Fire Lord! Ozai's scream echoed through the cosmos as the Avatar reappeared on the scene, showing brightly in contrast to the Fire Lord's blackened, mortal visage. They warped together as they fought, each one filling the gaps left by the other, flames biting at the earth and being beaten back by the water.

Then, silence. The Avatar had been struck mortally. Ozai fell. Both figures fell to the ground from their places in the cosmos, bringing a flattened ground into view, covered in writhing masses of the dead and dying as the sun reached its azimuth in the flat, black sky. The vivid colors faded as Zuko slowly strode to the body of his father. He heard the Avatar's name shouted by hundreds of people as he fell, but none were left to mourn the Fire Lord.

You have betrayed me! The late Fire Lord's lifeless body screamed in its silent fury. Zuko stood over t he body for a moment before turning away, to move towards the party of the Avatar. Katara couldn't stand, though she was reaching for the place where the Avatar had fallen. Seeing this, Zuko swept her up and carried her to the vicinity of the young airbender's body.

A shadow rose from Ozai's body and drifted over the battlefield toward Zuko as he sat with Katara, her brother, and the blind girl; all survivors of the battle. The fight still raged on around them, but nothing could be done about that. The Avatar had been pierced through the heart, a feeling Zuko knew well. Ozai's shadow blackened the earth as it passed over it, and began seeping into the ground, tainting the land nearby, drinking in the violence and hatred that covered the land. It bubbled up from the pits and began rising from the ground as lava does from a volcano. It reached the sky and blotted out the sun.

There was no more fire left in the army nearby; they had been broken. The day of the eclipse had passed only to give rise to the death of the sun itself. The Fire Nation was broken, and the ground shattered into hundreds of islands. The Avatar's party floated away with much of the Earth Nation forces into the abyss. The body of his father joined the parts of the fire nation. Zuko remained with no land to call his own. He tumbled into the inky blackness, lost as he fell.

After a time of falling, he no longer felt the pull of gravity. Freefall. Floating in blackness. No matter how much flame he produced, there was no light. No matter which way he pulled himself, nothing highlighted anything in his surroundings. No shapes, no colors.

He curled in upon himself in the abyss, and felt a slight sinking feeling. The abyss was cold, and covered his entire body with the exception of his face and his right hand. As he curled in more onto himself, even these were covered.

Zuko sat up quickly in the bath, coughing as he rose. The water was cold, and the rain was continuing, the monotonous raindrops joined by the more erratic thunder. He brought the water back up to a more reasonable temperature and sat back to calm himself. As he sat in the water, recuperating from the scare of nearly drowning, he heard something padded touch the floor down the hall.

Padded soles. Someone smaller than him. Stealthy. Had he not started focusing on the sound, he would have lost it shortly after. The person held its position at the other hall before padding along toward the guest quarters. Zuko rose to his feet in the bath, stepping out as quietly as he could. He wrapped some towels around his body and began creeping along in the direction of the intruder.

**A/N: I hope that no one feels cheated out of action due to the way I handled the fight in the dream. It's meant to be vague, with Zuko-perceived highlights, so it's not going to be the most accurate recollection of the fight. I know it seems like I've been cheating you out of fights, so next chapter should be good for those of you looking for proper butt-kicking. **

**As for the surrealism, yeah. I just had to try it at least once. It seems like the best way to give a first-glimpse of the Dawn. Sorry if it's not to your taste. Writing the whole thing was likely stranger than reading it. I attempted to put things in more vague terms, to capture the fact that it's a dream, and hopefully it came across as a decent one. Next up is CH7: The Assassin.**


	7. The Assassin

**CH7: The Assassin**

The rain continued to fall outside of the silent palace. Guards continued on their patrols through the halls, quietly padding down the ways. The main occupants of the large home were all asleep, as were their guests. Yet Zuko heard something that was out of place. There was the creeping of someone who did not belong. He donned a loose robe and started after the intruder.

The guest hall was ahead, linked to the baths by a few narrow hallways. He slipped along the hall, recalling his days as the Blue Spirit. This brought a smile to his lips as he crept along, his bare feet dampening the sound as he walked along the hardwood floors. He heard someone walking up ahead in the hall that ran perpendicular to the one he was in currently. Two people, in fact, now that he listened closer to the sound of their footfalls.

By the time they turned the corner, Zuko was up at the ceiling, holding himself in place out of their sight. The guards turned down in his direction and continued walking under him when gravity did its work, pulling his robe open so that the edges brushed the faces of the guardsmen as they passed under. They stopped and stepped back, readying their weapons as they looked up at what they assumed was an intruder.

"... Lord Zuko?" The guardsman on the right wore a confused look on his face, wondering why the Fire Lord himself was up on the ceiling.

"Ssh! Keep walking. There's someone else sneaking around, I'm trying to find out who it is." He whispered quickly. His grip was failing, and he was hoping that they would move soon. His forearms were straining against the now-unfamiliar position he had put his body in. The guards looked to each other before shrugging and walking away to continue their patrol.

"Lord Zuko and his weird sex games, you know?" The left guardsman spoke quietly to the right, smirking. He had better things to do right now, so the young Fire Lord couldn't argue with the man. Slowly slipping down to the floor, Zuko continued his search for the intruder, down the hall where the guest quarters were situated. He stopped at the edge of the hall and listened, kneeling down a bit.

A step. A nearly-silent, creeping step in the room nearest to him reached his ears. He made his way to the door and pulled it open quickly, hoping to startle whoever was moving on the other side. Inside the darkened room, Mai was asleep on the bed, and, approaching her, knife in hand, was a figure clad entirely in black, with a black mask.

"Stop right there!" Zuko quickly launched a small burst of fire at the assassin. The black-clad killer darted out of the way quickly, and was only nicked by the flames as they dissipated into the air past it. Mai's eyes flew open, and the assassin ran toward the window to flee from the scene.

The masked figure kicked at the shutters over the window, before pausing. They did not break; instead, they simply repelled the attacker, who turned around just in time to see Zuko rushing in. The young Fire Lord punched the assassin in the stomach, sending searing flames across the attacker's midsection. The assassin breathed in deeply, but vocalized nothing, keeping its identity hidden from the others in the room.

The killer lashed out at Zuko with the blade, nicking his arm lightly as the young man parried the blade and struck the killer again in the same place, sending another flame across his opponent. This time, the assassin shouted. She had given herself away. Mai was up in a flash, getting what of hers she could while Zuko had the female assassin occupied.

The firebender stepped forward and knocked one of the assassin's legs out from under her, which would have brought her to the ground. However, she had other ideas; she rolled forward and dashed toward the door. Zuko turned around and launched another gout of flame at her. She slammed the door behind her in order to block her opponent's path.

"What did you get yourself into?" He shot a glance at Mai, who was only half-dressed at the moment. She gave him an eerie half-smile in response. Shaking his head, he flung open the door and listened for a moment. He heard guards shouting off to his right, coming from the direction of the baths. The guards he had run into earlier were handling it. However, even though they were capable warriors, they wouldn't catch the killer in time. Not without help. He darted down the hall toward the baths, before he dropped his heels and turned around.

"Mai! Hurry up and get out here!" He pulled to a stop outside of her open door as she walked out fully clothed. She raised an eyebrow after looking at his attire, seeing that he was wearing little more than a robe.

"Your concern is heartwarming." She yawned before plodding down the hall towards the shouts in the baths. Zuko shook his head as he walked alongside her.

"You didn't answer me; who did you manage to irritate enough that they'd want to kill you?" He looked to her, annoyed with the fact that she wasn't telling him anything despite the fact that he had just helped her avoid death.

"I'll tell you once she's gone." Mai picked up her pace; she wanted to avoid chatter while the assassin was still in the building; talking would just help the killer target her if she simply walked around making noise.

Zuko half-grunted with annoyance and kept pace with Mai. When they reached the baths, there was no sign of the black-clad intruder, but the guards had fallen. They weren't bleeding from any noticeable places. Zuko scanned the room in an attempt to figure out where she had gone; there were only two exits from this room, and those were on opposite sides from each other. They had just come from one way, there was only one way to go from here.

"Damn! Katara might be in trouble. Come on!" Zuko darted through the bathing room as he brought a small blade of flame into being in his right hand. He didn't wait to see if Mai was coming along; he just barreled down the hallway at full speed, his robe billowing about behind him. The floor up ahead was warped and cracked where he had discovered the guardsmen. When he reached the spot, his feet caught on a sharp crack which cut his foot. Ignoring this, he pushed open Katara's door with his free hand.

Katara was fine; still sleeping, no blood. No sign of the assassin. He looked back down the hall to see Mai coming his way at a brisk pace. Zuko started closing the door, when the assassin threw open the door to his room and leapt upon him with her knife, tackling him to the ground. The Fire Lord shouted as he grasped the killer's hands in an attempt to keep himself from getting stabbed.

The assassin shifted her weight and moved away from Zuko's hands, bringing the blade down into his unprotected stomach and piercing the skin a bit. Zuko winced in pain before pulling the blade away from his body and attempting to get away from its sharp edge. Katara was waking slowly, and chose this moment to look at the ruckus just outside of her door. She leapt out of bet to her feet, pulling water out of the cistern in her room as she moved.

Suddenly, a small blade struck the assassin's wrist just above where Zuko's hand was holding her. The strike caused the killer to drop her knife; a wickedly barbed thing, meant specifically for the purpose of inflicting more pain than necessary on a target. Sensing her advantage dwindling, the assassin shifted her weight and started to roll away from Zuko. Unfortunately for her, he had a tight grip on her wrist below where she had been caught by one of Mai's shuriken.

"Who are you?" Zuko shouted as he rose to his feet, holding the assassin firmly in his grip with his right hand. Mai tried to move to get a better throwing angle at the intruder, but Zuko was in her way, blocking all of the good avenues of attack; the only way she could hit her target now was by throwing much too close to him. While it was possible, it wasn't preferable.

The assassin did not answer the Fire Lord's query, and instead reached down into a hidden pocket and pulled out a ceramic bottle the size of two fists put together and a small device. With a click of the device, a spark was produced that lit the fuse on the ceramic bottle. This was done too quickly for a reaction; and the killer kept Zuko between her and Mai, so that she could avoid being struck again. As the fuse burned, Katara whipped the assassin's hand, causing her to drop the bottle. It hit the ground, but did not break, and the fuse-side situated itself in a crack.

Zuko watched silently for a split second before realizing what the bottle was. He reached back and grabbed Mai's wrist as the assassin knelt down and curled herself over the bottle. The Fire Lord pulled his informant toward Katara's room,. He wrapped an arm around her and began pulling them both toward the closet. Mai slammed the door to the room behind her, and then the large closet's door as well. As she was being pulled, Katara stumbled backwards, before erecting a shield of ice to help dampen the coming explosion. Zuko simply carried them both on into the very back of the closet before stopping. He was breathing heavily, and bleeding from three places, but at least he would not be exploding.

The next seconds took an eternity to pass. One second. Everyone was breathing slowly. Katara was holding on to Zuko quietly as his blood trickled out of his wounds onto her. It began to seep through her nightclothes. Two seconds. Mai shifted her weight, moving away from the door. Katara looked down to see what the warm fluid was, even though there was no light in the room. She still kept her hold on Zuko and kept one ear to his shoulder. She covered her other ear with her hand and began curling up.

On the third second, they waited. Nothing sounded, and they sat in the darkness. Zuko leaned forward so he could rise to his feet, but he held still so that he could protect Katara's ears, should she need it. He placed some weight on his injured foot for a second before shouting. However, as he shouted, the bomb in the hall exploded with enough force to shake the room. It sounded close; too close. The closet door took a bigger hit than expected, but stayed closed.

They sat in silence for a few more moments, before Zuko rose to his feet, testing his injured foot gingerly on the ground before putting any weight on it. He made his way slowly to the door and opened it, looking into the destroyed room. The assassin, with her last moves, apparently tried to make it to the closet with her suicide bomb, but fell short. Katara's blast shield made of ice had saved them, even though it resulted in the destruction of the half of her room closest to the door. He continued out; he could see where the intruder stood before the bomb went off, but she was no threat in death.

Mai and Katara followed him out into the ruined room as he stepped out. They surveyed the wreckage caused by the bomb. Katara looked away from the point where the assassin once was, and began pulling her water together into another cistern that was roughly half-full before the explosion. Heavy footsteps thundered down the halls; the guards were coming.

"Is everyone okay?" Zuko shifted his weight on his good foot to turn around and look at the other two. He winced in pain as he turned, before putting on a triumphant smirk. Katara blinked as she looked over him for a few moments, and Mai simply nodded.

"You're not. Sit on the bed for a moment." Katara drew the water back out from the cistern as Zuko sat on the bed. She brought the water over him and sealed his wounds. The pain lingered on for a moment, before fading away entirely.

"Thanks, Katara." He smiled, then looked up to Mai, "So, what was that about? I'm fairly sure the assassin is gone now." he let his gaze fall back over where the assassin had likely been before the explosion, and the smile dropped from his face. He couldn't look at it for more than a few moments, and instead turned his gaze to a far more pleasing sight; his fiancée.

"When I was up north, I did a bit more investigation than they found acceptable. It's how I learned about their new war machines. I also absconded with a few important things, to keep them on their toes." Mai turned her attention away from the exploded area to the couple at the edge of the bed. The information she took gave her a sense of accomplishment, but it wasn't anything that was particularly difficult. Just a fair exchange for her services.

"Ah... I see. Do you know anything about the assassin?" The Fire Lord tilted his head to the side a bit and stretched as he asked the question. After a few moments, he yawned and almost leaned back on the bed, but stopped himself halfway before pulling himself back up into a seated position.

"Considering her method of answering questions about her identity, I think I know who sent her. Up north, there's an order of assassins that work directly under the Fire Lord. Very dangerous. I thought they were just something used to threaten their agents with; I suppose I was wrong." Mai closed her eyes toward the end of the sentence and exhaled; she wasn't used to being hunted, and it wasn't enjoyable at all., despite giving her something to do.

"I see. I'm glad you took me up on my offer to get you off of the continent." Zuko sat up straight and winced; he hadn't been in an actual fight in a while, he forgot how straining they could be if you weren't ready for them. The guards finally reached the area, and paused to look over the damage done to the interior. They stepped forward and looked in to see the three survivors of the fight. The Fire Lord turned his attention to them, "You can wait until morning to get most of the cleaning done. We're going to have to take up a new shift soon. Got that?"

"Yes, I am, too. Thank you for that." Mai nodded in response to his first statement. At Zuko's voice, the guards were puzzled at first, before they nodded to indicate they understood and got to work cleaning.

"So, where am I going to sleep now?" Katara looked back around her room; half of the hall-side wall was missing, and it was now pretty busted. Zuko's room had a hole in the wall as well, but it wasn't as large.

"I'm sure we'll think of something." He smiled before rising to his feet and stretching a bit, "though, we should get to sleep, tomorrow's likely going to be a busy day."

**A/N: Short and violent combat, yay! I had an idea that I will deem "horrible." As I've been receiving a lot of questions as to what Sokka is up to, I'm going to, once I get to a certain point, start up a companion piece to this one for him. It will likely be much shorter, and writing it shouldn't interfere with my updates for this one. It's updated under the title: "Sokka the Bodyguard."  
**


	8. The First Arrival

**CH8: First Arrival**

A week later, and the rain had stopped. It was still humid, but the humidity was to be expected in the lush forests of the Fire Nation. The sun rose to give life to the people who rose with it. As light filtered in through the windows, Zuko began to awaken as well. He slowly opened his eyes and stifled a yawn, but as he rolled to get out of bed, he found that his arm was held fast by something.

Groggily, he wiped his eyes with his unstuck hand and looked to the place where his other was rooted. Katara lay there, in front of him, holding his arm tightly to her body. He smiled to himself before sitting up and stretching his free arm out. The room was nice and cool, but the bed was rather warm now that it had two people occupying it.

After a few seconds of watching Katara sleep, he reached down and started moving her arm out of the way. He managed to get it mostly free before she adjusted her hands and pulled both of his arms in. Katara opened her eyes and smiled at him, before releasing him. Zuko shifted his weight back to sit on the bed as he stretched his once-captured arm. Katara rolled out of the bed and stood up. She plodded off and began getting dressed as Zuko stayed perched on his side of the bed.

"You should be getting ready, you know. Today should be the first day our guests start arriving for the wedding. We don't want to make them wait." Katara picked out her clothes for the day and set them off to the side as she started organizing the things she would use to get ready.

"Right, right. Work, work." Zuko mock-groaned as he hopped down off of the bed, still smiling to himself. He pulled his clothes from the stack where he kept his clean ones, as opposed to the stack where the dirty ones were to be carried out for washing later. The two young lovers went about their morning routines; cleaning their faces, brushing their hair, and warming their minds up for the rest of the day.

After they finished preparing for the day, they left the room into the hall of the palace. Zuko glanced to his left and looked over the area that had been damaged by the bomb a week ago. It had been mostly repaired and repainted, but it still needed some work done. Unless someone took the time to look over every bit of it, however, they likely wouldn't notice.

"Who is coming in first, anyway?" Zuko abruptly turned his attention back to Katara, before covering his mouth so that he didn't yawn in her face. He wiped the tears from his right eye and stretched again. He hadn't been able to fix his sleep schedule since the assassin had come, and he didn't know why. The only thing that stopped him from sleeping until noon was Katara; she normally woke up sometime close to dawn, but recently her normal waking time crept further into the day.

"I don't know, it's a toss-up between Sokka and my father." She smiled at the fact that even though he was getting up earlier now, he still had problems with keeping awake. Yawning was contagious, though, and she couldn't help but to yawn herself, "And stop yawning; you're making me do it now."

Zuko laughed as they strode out of the palace and into the warm sun. He didn't know why, but he felt jittery. Something was strange, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he wasn't entirely at ease with the current situation. He looked up to Katara, and opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him before the first word escaped his lips.

"I'm sorry, there still hasn't been any word from your uncle. And don't be so nervous, Sokka may very well hate you, but my father likes you. Remember when he came up a while back? You two got along pretty well." She took Zuko's hand in hers, smiling to him as she spoke the last half of her sentence. She could feel his nervousness, that was the one thing that, even with the masks he wore, he could never quite hide completely. He wore no mask now, of course, but she could still feel it.

"Of course... but that was when we were simply dating. I don't think he can simply write it off as a phase anymore, like parents tend to do when their children do something, well, stupid. Of course, it could be Sokka who comes in today." He looked up at the sky, toward the rising sun. It was rapidly approaching midmorning, which meant that the docks would be bustling now with all sorts of people and all sorts of wares.

They were approaching the seawall, a fortification left behind by the earthbenders, a massive relic from the war. It was recently reinforced on the inside with steel, so now the city was almost impervious to assault from the sea, whether it be by storm or navy. A grand stairway led over the wall; a beautiful sight during the warm days, but a treacherous one on days where it rained, as the stairs easily grew slick with water, and even with the utmost caution, one could fall from the highest point down to the ocean, and end up dead. On rainy days, one did not venture forth to the water, which was why an alternate route was being constructed.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Even if it is Sokka, though, he's not going to jump off of his ship and punch you in the teeth." Katara grinned a bit, because that was exactly what happened last time he came over. The two didn't talk the whole time, until the incident at the koi pond, which ended similarly.

"That's what he did last time, though." Zuko looked to the ground to check for water as they started on their way down the grand stairwell that led to the waterfront. He rubbed his face a bit with his fingertips and remembered to be on his guard this time, so that he wouldn't be hit again.

"Exactly." Katara smirked. "He's a master strategist, remember? He didn't get the acclaim of so many people from doing the same thing all the time."

"True enough, but he could do it because I'm expecting him to do something else now, and manage to come out on top. Again." Zuko smirked back, a good, silly, circular argument was something he hadn't had in a long time.

"Oh come on, you know he won't hurt you too bad while I'm around." She smiled and swatted him on his arm lightly. Today was a good day; bright and sunny, with no sign of any more rain lurking on the horizon.

"I think that gives him good reason to hurt me; he knows that you could fix me right up afterwards." He chuckled a bit, and mocked rubbing his arm. They reached the landing at the bottom of the steps and looked over the bustling docks before them.

There were many small shops on the waterfront, most stalls and the like, as well as a thriving fish market. This was a constant market that traded in all sorts of unique and interesting goods. While the farmers' market was up behind the seawall, down here was a wonderful set of shops with people from all over the world coming to sell their wares in the capitol of the Southern Fire Nation. Most of the shops were indeed temporary, and could disappear at any time. Because of the transitory nature of the shops on this level, impulse buys ruled the day. While you couldn't always find what you were looking for, you could always discover something you weren't looking for at a great price.

Zuko hated coming to this part of the city, even though it had its own special beauty and allure. It reminded him too much of his uncle. Of course, in more recent years, he had come to know the joys of impulse buying, which filled his room with odd trinkets from the market whenever he happened to end up in the area. In fact, a week ago, when he was seeing Mai off on one of the ships heading out to the other nations, he found a few interesting decorative items that he simply couldn't let pass. He didn't even remember what they were, but he liked them at the time. He hated this side of town; it made him miss the time spent with his uncle when he was younger.

"Hmm. I suppose you'll have to wait until another day for your squabble with Sokka." Katara smiled and nudged Zuko, who had suddenly been distracted by a beautifully crafted Pai Sho set made from a wood that he didn't recognize. As he turned, she pointed at a ship that had pulled in to the harbor.

"How do you figure?" Zuko took his hand away from his bag of coins and squinted at the ship. Once he saw the sail and its masts, however, he knew it was a stupid question. The ship came straight from the Southern Water Tribe; a simple, functional, yet beautiful sailing ship that couldn't have been made anywhere else in the world.

"I don't know; maybe it's just a hunch." She smiled and took his hand again as they picked up their pace. Guardsmen saluted them as they made their way through the market to the docks that jutted out into the water from the shore. Moments later, they stood upon the docks where mighty warships shared their spaces with decommissioned Fire Navy ships and a plethora of multicolored and multi-sailed traders from all over the world. People were running back and forth from their ships to the marketplace on shore, carrying crates, messages, and fragile goods as they hurried about their ways.

The mass of people didn't bother them, however, as Yozan, Zao, and Muro formed up in front of them when they reached the docks here. For a moment, Zuko didn't recognize them; they had donned the uniforms used by the Royal Procession back when Fire Lord Ozai was still in charge. He didn't know where they managed to get them, but there they were. The only thing that gave them away was that Zao always seemed to walk the same way, armored or unarmored. That particular guardsman always seemed to walk on the tips of his toes, even if he was carrying something heavy. It made him a dead giveaway in armor, as nobody else could quite imitate it for long enough to be convincing.

They stopped in front of the area where the Water Tribe ship was pulling in. A few moments passed as the skilled crewmen finished getting everything on the ship tied down. There were no words; these were obviously veteran sailors. When all of their ship-side work was completed, they made their way off and down onto the docks. Zuko only recognized one person out of the group, though he knew that Katara had invited her whole village to attend the wedding. Idly, he wondered if they were all going to come.

The guards stepped out of the way quickly as Katara darted forward and hugged her father. Zuko could only stand back and watch idly; this wasn't his reunion, and it wasn't his place to intrude. Hakoda seemed to be the only happy one out of the group. The others wore serious faces, and appeared as though they did not want to be here. But, why would they? Spending time in the Fire Nation must a horrible bother for them; they came and conquered, but they had their losses.

"So, how are you, Zuko?" Hakoda was right in front of him now, which slightly startled him. He had a big smile on his face as he shook the young ruler's hand. Zuko was mildly startled for a moment, but it didn't show on his face. He didn't like the odd moments he had been having recently. Zoning out too much. But he couldn't help it, something was nagging at him, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"Fine, sir." Zuko returned the smile quickly, "How was your trip up from the south?"

"Wonderful; the ocean is always beautiful this time of year. And, please, don't call me 'sir'; it makes me feel old." Hakoda still looked the same as he did during the war; a clean-limbed fighting man with no signs of having aged a day.

"Alright, then. Would you all like something to eat? It is nearing noon, and I'm sure you're all hungry." Zuko half-nodded, and turned his attention back toward the city for a moment. He didn't feel right around her father, and he couldn't exactly tell why. Hakoda looked back to his men and then back to Zuko; he wasn't quite comfortable either. His daughter was to be married to this young man, but it still wasn't registering properly in his mind. There were no questions in his mind that Zuko would be a good husband, except for the nagging problem that he was once, and still, a member of the Fire Nation's royal family. This boy was Ozai's son, whether he admitted it or not, and this held on to Hakoda's mind. The thought of Ozai marrying Katara was very unsettling, but the connection was made.

"Sure, I don't think anyone would have a problem with that." Hakoda turned his gaze toward the massive seawall between the docks and the town. The men were hungry, but none of them felt comfortable in this place. It sat right at the heart of the battlefields of the eclipse and the dawn, and no one who had been here ten years ago could shake that image from their minds.

There was an awkward pause in motion, when Zuko looked to Hakoda and stood for a moment, as if expecting him to start walking. After a few moments, he realized his error and turned to lead the way. The others moved to follow him, and the guardsmen formed a wedge to help carry them through the market streets.

"Sorry about that; I think he's a bit nervous." Katara whispered quietly to her father, just loud enough for him to hear above the chaotic rumblings of the people in the streets. She watched Zuko walk somewhat stiffly behind his guardsmen; he was obviously tense. Never before had he been this tense while she was around; she couldn't quite understand what was bothering him. He had met her father before; not much could have changed in the time they last met. She couldn't think of anything that would be bothering him, which troubled her.

Zuko, however, had come to realize what was nagging him. He shook his head and continued up the steps into the city proper. There would be plenty of time to discuss it later. Now, however, was food time. He knew of the perfect place to take everyone to eat at; a wonderful little shop that served basic, yet delicious food. Everyone would overwork the palace chefs soon enough; so the first meal would be elsewhere. Now, if he could only stop worrying about her father throwing him down the stairs.

**A/N: Sorry for the very "transitiony" nature of this one. I tried to fit something really important in, but it just serves to set up and foreshadow things more. Also, updates will likely be spotty over the next two weeks for this one and the Sokka fic, as the upcoming two weeks are test weeks or Spring Break. I also need to get my hands on another copy of Yojimbo so that I can get everything right, but that should likely happen on Sunday. I'm still writing things, just at a reduced pace, so there's no worries of me forgetting about it.  
**


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